Common sense forgiveness is what we all need, right. Peter was counting on that. In Matthew 18:20 –
How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” V.20. To him it seemed that no Christian could be expected to continue to forgive if his brother persisted in sinning against him no matter how often and how sincerely he had been granted forgiveness. According to the Rabbinical Law a person was required to forgive three times. Peter goes far beyond that, “Till seven times,” perhaps having in mind the Savior’s instruction Luke 17: 3-4. By asking this question Peter revealed that he had not yet grasped the fundamental principle of Christian life and conduct: Love, also to our fellow men, particularly to our fellow Christians. His conception of Christian forgiveness was legalistic rather than evangelical; a duty according to the law instead of a privilege bestowed upon God’s children through the Gospel. As a
result, he was not fully aware that the motivation of Christian forgiveness must always be love and not merely an earnest desire to fulfill an ethical obligation. Neither did he seem to realize that the purpose of Christian forgiveness must always be the salvation of the erring brother rather than the putting at ease of one’s own conscience. In short, Peter still had not learned that a Christian who forgives his brother actually conveys God’s full and unlimited forgiveness to him.
That was written by a forgotten preacher named E.J Friedrich, back in the day. I wonder what he would have thought of the nonsense of the cute sign producers who continue to make everything, including forgiveness, about us.
